A survey of more than three thousand mobile phone users, conducted on behalf of case manufacturer Tech21, found that ninety percent of people drop their phone at least once a month, with a small minority saying that they drop their phone as many as six times a month. 

Other findings of the survey include:

• 20% of people are willing to walk around with a cracked or broken screen.
• 25% of people have damaged their phone due to unforeseen contact with water
• 22% of people would prefer to live without their partner than manage without their phone
• 38% of people saying the biggest stress factor of a broken phone is paying for the repair

Tech21 do have a vested interest in selling cases, but the results of the survey do provide some context for the debate on whether you should case your phone. It's almost inevitable that a phone will get dropped at some point in its life, but the resulting degree of damage will vary tremendously. Even if you do opt to get a case, it is worth bearing in mind that it does not guarantee protection and different cases have very different characteristics.

That's one of the reasons that tech21 is promoting their "Impactology" brand promise, which it says is about using "advanced science and pioneering innovation to deliver a unique, new level of protection for mobile devices, laptops, and tablets". Take away the hyperbole and what Tech21 are doing are promoting a range of cases that have an extra impact protection layer made of D3O rate sensitive material (the harder the impact, the greater the resistance to the force).

We'll be taking a closer look at these cases once we have had a chance to try them out, but in the mean time here's a video that summarises the "Impactology" brand promise and how the DE3O material works: